Dr. Joan Lachance is an Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She directs the TESL graduate programs and undergraduate TESL Minor. She is the co-author of the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards and the Director of the CAEP Specialized Program Association in Dual Language Education called “EMMA: Education for a Multilingual Multicultural America.” She received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education, Modern Languages and Linguistics from Florida International University. With Spanish as the language of program delivery, she completed graduate coursework to earn her master’s degree in School Counseling from Pontifical Catholic University in Poncé, Puerto Rico. Dr. Lachance completed her doctoral work in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Urban Education, Literacy, and TESL at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Dr. Lachance’s research agenda encompasses dual language teacher preparation, academic literacy development, and authentic assessment with multilingual learners has resulted in over 25 publications including articles, book chapters, technical reports, and state-level curriculum guides since joining UNC Charlotte. She serves on several journal editorial boards and is a board member of the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast (MABE). With the publication of her latest Corwin book she is specializing one aspect of her work further into collaboration and co-teaching for multilingual learners in the dual language context. She continues to work to support dual language education for the preservation of Native American languages, currently and most-honorably collaborating with a K-8 school serving the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians [EBCI].
In addition to her faculty position, Dr. Lachance’s service agenda has resulted in over 100 conference presentations, invited panels, keynotes, and roundtables to support the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the nation at-large. Her service specializes in professional learning for teachers, school counselors, and school administrators. She co-created materials and professional learning institutes for myriad North Carolina state-led initiatives including Using the WIDA Standards, The North Carolina Guide to the SIOP Model, The North Carolina Guide to ExC-ELL, and Dual Language/Immersion Program Support. The presentations, webinars, and asynchronous learning opportunities share innovative practices for multilingual learner academic language development, equitable active multilingual learner engagement, dual language program development, sociocultural nuances in school counseling, and international comparative education.
For fun, Dr. Lachance enjoys camping [it’s really glamping!] with her husband Carl, their son, and their two rescue dogs. She is passionate about science, astronomy, the outdoors, hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the preservation of the Appalachian Trail. While she lives and works in North Carolina, she shares her heart deeply with New Mexico and, has a passion for the Native American Pueblo Languages, their ways of living, and everything Hatch green chilies. Finally, she is a former dual language parent, who reached the point of watching multilingualism come to life in her own home.
